Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

With more and more businesses participating in social media, the pressure to be creative is getting intense. Now every tweet needs to be interesting. Every blog post, a ‘wow’. And so everybody wants to know: Does Robroy have a process for that?

Hold on, let me check. Why, yes, here’s something. I call it the Madman, Craftsman, Critic process. Catchy name, I know. You can use Madman, Craftsman, Critic (or Madwoman, Craftswoman, Critic) to develop everything from business growth strategies to sales presentations to marketing content, tweets, blogs and more. It also works for paintings and poems and love songs. And Robroy posts. Anything creative. But only if you are willing to concede that you have three strong-willed personalities within you who all want to dominate the creative process, and it’s your job to keep them in line. They are:

1. The Madman

His cheeks are tight and bright from holding back gales of laughter while dashing around the room goosing people. The Madman is you at your irrepressible best. Your passion, your spark, your zest for life. He loves what he does and is inspired by finding original ways to express it, regardless of what anybody else is doing.

2. The Craftsman

After the wild hilarity has blown over, enter the Craftsman. This is your technical side. Fastidious, skillful and proud, the Craftsman makes logical sense of what the Madman has left behind, which he measures, cuts, joins and assembles into something structurally sound and useful.

3. The Critic

“Gentlemen, gentlemen,” says the Critic, peering over his glasses. “Your masterpiece is stirring, indeed, but riddled with errors. A detail is missing here and here. And the surface must be rubbed, sealed and smoothly coated. Really, gentlemen. In the future, I insist we bring me in sooner.”

This is you and your high standards. Ultimately accountable for whether the thing works or not, the Critic controls quality in matters large and small. It would be a disaster to involve the Critic too soon in the creative process, as he would scold and nit-pick and criticize his brothers until they broke his glasses and made him cry. Another common mistake is letting the Madman hang around so long that he burns it all down with his hair. Finally, try not to allow the Craftsman to start or finish the project, as it will end up technically perfect, but emotionally stiff as a board.

Madman, Craftsman and Critic, in that order.

But, hey, you’re creative. How does it happen for you? Have your Madman/Madwoman leave a comment below.

So-called marketing professionals! Will you cool it already with the clean, slick, well mannered marketing campaigns? You’re making a dangerous mistake.

Think about it. When you were a kid, what did you do for fun? If your best friends were anything like John Bertaux, Mike McCarthy and Bill Diehl, you set up plywood ramps for your bike. You rode standing up, pumping your legs to build up speed. When you hit the ramp, you launched yourself high into the sky … arms locked, knees shaking … and landed on the driveway, skidding to a stop. The crowd went wild. You were the man.

Now in our 40s, our generation is “the man” and “the woman” in a different way. Many of us are responsible decision-makers in our companies. We put out RFPs. We hire vendors and sign purchasing orders. Yet we’re still daredevils at heart, and we need to push ourselves to the limit from time to time, or life’s no fun. If your marketing can’t spark our imagination, if your salespeople can’t rev the throttle and really get us fired up, you will fall short of your goal every time. You’ll hit the front of the ramp and flip over your handlebars and break every bone in your body.